An autumn/winter soup this–with a big presence.
Adapted from Leslie Forbes’ lovely book A Table in Tuscany.
In the early eighties she had the bright idea of eating her way round Tuscany’s restaurants and watering holes–an arduous task to set oneself.
This soup–one of the best bean soups in Tuscany—she credits to the restaurant of the Fattoria dei Barbi near Montalcino and the unnamed English cook, married to an Italian, thus providing the important advantage of a Tuscan mother-in-law! This is 25 years ago mind–things have a habit of changing.
The book remains a gem (used copies available on Amazon for a penny!).
2 carrots--chopped small
2 sticks of celery–chopped small
2 leeks–cleaned and chopped small
6 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 tinned tomatoes–chopped up with their liquid
A sprig of fresh thyme
1 large garlic clove–pulped
Half a green cabbage–stem removed and shredded
The other half of the cabbage shredded thinly–this for a topping (see below)
1 tablespoon olive oil
About 800 gms/24 oz of cooked white beans [canned or bottled or dried, soaked and cooked]–drained but their liquid retained
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan and sweat the celery, leeks and carrots until they are tender–about twenty minutes.
- Mix in the tomatoes, garlic and thyme and let them cook on for five minutes.
- Add the cabbage, season with salt & pepper and cook on for ten minutes.
- Purée three-quarters of the beans in a mixer with a little of their liquid.
- Add the bean water and the bean purée and stir it all together.
- Cook this thick mix for an hour–stirring it regularly to stop it sticking and burning.
- Add a little of the stock each time you stir it.
- This is meant to be a thick soup–up to you how loose to make it–just be careful not to dilute the depth of taste.
- While the soup cooks on sauté the rest of the cabbage to serve as a topping when you present the soup.
- Keep tasting the soup as you go (you may find yourself doing that anyway!).
- Serve with a drizzle of good quality olive oil.
Robin Ellis 
This Tuscan soup sounds so good. I haven’t had one with cabbage…will try it soon. 25 years means nothing when good taste is involved.
This looks wonderful for a cold night; thanks for sharing not only your own recipes, but the gems you come across. I love that they are simple in preparation, and complex in flavor.
What a heartwarming recipe! Just one thing, though – how many does the above serve (approx)? Being a widow, it is sometimes hard to adapt for small amounts, even though my soups usually do for a couple of days; but any more than that and I begin to hanker for a different taste. Do you think it could be frozen – or is that anathema to you?
I forgot to include how many these amounts would feed–thanks Sophie-Jane.
4 is the answer with some left over.
Sure you could freeze it–or just store it in the fridge ’til you can’t wait any longer for a second go!
This looks great. The cabbage is new to me but certainly worth a try.
This is just the thing for a cold wet and windy winter’s night it will be on the menu tomorrow,
I was wondering what to have for a change, once again you have come to my rescue
with your very colourful and enticing dish.
Thank you..
Robin: I plan on making this soup. I have never cooked with leeks before so I have a question….do I use just the bulb of the leek or the green as well?
Mary
Hi Mary–I’d say use the good bits! Cut off the end and peel off the damaged bits. For this soup you can use white and green–good for the look too.
Robin! I made this soup for dinner yesterday – Out of this world! My husband and I loved it! I thought the cabbage a unique ingredient for bean soup and it proved to be a heavenly ingredient. I did use a bit of the green of the leeks as I like both the taste and color. Thank you so much for posting this recipe. I have printed it out and it now holds a place of honor in my cookbook.
Mary
It’s one of my favourites and is even better the next day–if there’s any left over!